I’m posting this with only 30 minutes to spare. It’s still January 24 here at Chateau du Roc. Today is notable because a song that has been giving the Beatles trouble all month finally clicks. We also hear two new songs and further work on a song that would end up on Imagine.

Although it isn’t in the podcast, there is a short skiffle session today. I’ll share an oldies jam with you instead. You already know “Maggie Mae,” but you might not have heard this. John and Paul spit out whatever Chuck Berry lyrics they can think of while playing “Get Back.” It’s this whole weird stream-of-consciousness thing.

The Beatles rehearsed on January 25, but there will be no podcast. It is Mrs. Rock’s birthday. I’m going to have to let myself get a day behind. Don’t worry; you won’t miss anything. All this will do is extend the series into February.

I’m cheating on this one. The podcast actually starts with John and Yoko’s arrival late on January 13. The conversation is intense. Jan. 14 begins with one of Paul’s piano sessions, where he even plays a verse of “Woman,” which he wrote for Peter & Gordon.

The Beatles don’t accomplish much on January 14 and even their conversations are not that interesting. It gives me an opportunity to share my thoughts on whether or not Yoko broke up the Beatles. Check out Allyn Gibson’scomment on yesterday’s post for another interesting view on this subject. Yes, I know it’s weird that someone could comment on a something before it’s posted.

That’s Paul on guitar on John’s song “Madman” by the way.

This wraps up the first series of this podcast. It will return on January 21 when the Beatles resume their sessions in their new basement studio. I will find something to write about between now and then, so jump back here sometime. Otherwise, I’ll see you next week.

Here’s another look at the Beatles session from 40 years ago today. George quit the band Friday. Paul and Ringo fill in the director on what happened at the band meeting at Ringo’s house yesterday. The reason George left leads me to examine some of the (true?) myths about the Beatles’ final years. I’ll also see if I can put my foot in my mouth by talking about racism and sexism.

I need to introduce a few people not everyone has heard of:

Neil Aspinall – He was the Beatles’ first employee. They hired him to drive them around because he had a van. He stayed with them until last year, running Apple.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg – He was the director of Let It Be.
Mal Evans – He was the Beatles’ second employee, also from Liverpool. They wouldn’t have let him run something as complicated as Apple.

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Check back tomorrow for more discussions about what to do without George in the band. We also get to listen in on Paul as he fools around at the piano.

Let’s take a look at what the Beatles did 40 years ago today. Paul frequently spent the first part of the session alone at the piano. Today is a great example of Paul’s solo piano sessions. Something happend at these sessions that gave the impression that the Beatles were racist. We will examine these events in context. We will also see why George might feel excluded by John and Paul, so it won’t be a surprise when he drops a bomb tomorrow. Come back tomorrow for the most dramatic day of the sessions.

On January 8, 1969, the Beatles finally worked on two of George’s songs, although John and Paul don’t take them as seriously as they might have. They work on another new George number tomorrow. One of the reasons George is getting so much time is John’s inability to write songs. This is the fifth day of rehearsals and John has only contributed one song. I’ll get into a bit more detail about this on the podcast. Paul attempts to discuss this problem with John and you will hear his reply.

Get back here tomorrow to check out the progress on Get Back. I’ll tell you all about the song’s supposedly “racist” roots.